Background: Most of the world population is approximately infected with intestinal parasites, the burden of this infection is mainly found in people living in developing countries where hygiene and environmental sanitation are poor. Gambia is not an exception to this phenomenon of poor hygiene and sanitation, therefore is at high risk of intestinal parasitic burden. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of parasitic infections among food handlers who sells food at Lower Basic Schools in the West Coast Region in The Gambia. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study used 540 stool samples stored at 10% formaldehyde collected from different food handlers during a study titled (Prevalence and risk factors of fecal carriage of Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae amongst food handlers in Lower Basic Schools in West Coast Region of The Gambia). Stool samples were examined microscopically using both normal saline and iodine for identification of cysts and eggs, larval of intestinal parasites using direct microscopes. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 16 and Microsoft excel version 2010 software to determine the risk factors. Results: Of the 540 food handlers administered, 536 (99.3%) were females. It was found that 250 (46.3%) were intestinal parasite carriers. Entameoba histolytica/dispar 150 (46%) followed by Giadia lamblia 52 (16%), E. coli 40 (12.3%), E. harmana 20 (6.1%), Strongloides 18 (5.5%), Ascaris lumbricoides 14 (4.3%), Iodamoeba butschlii, 9 (2.8%), Teania spp. 6 (1.8%), Diphyllobotrum latum 3 (0.9%), Hookworm 3 (0.9%), Fasiola hepatica 2 (0.6%), Hymenolepis dimunta 2 (0.6%), Tricguris Trichura 1 (0.3%), Fasiola Buski 1 (0.3%), Hymenolepis nana 1 (0.3%) and V. nana 4 (1.2%) were the parasites identified from the studied. Most of the food handlers were certified for handling food 483 (89.4%) and 492 (91.2%) know the principle of food safety. Among the risk factors, living with domestic animals, lack of training in food handling and hand washing practices with P-value of (0.014), (0.017), and (0.056) respectively and 95% Confidence Interval was associated risk factors of intestinal parasite infections. Conclusions: This study showed high prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers. Training of food handlers on proper methods of food preparation and practice of good personal hygiene should be conducted on regular basis. Since, transmissions of intestinal parasites are by fecal-oral route, food handlers are important sources of infections. Epidemiological surveillance and quarterly screening of food handlers should be done by qualified personnel for isolation of intestinal parasites.
| Published in | International Journal of Food Science and Biotechnology (Volume 2, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijfsb.20170201.11 |
| Page(s) | 1-5 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Food Handlers, Intestinal Parasites, Risk Factors, Prevalence, West Coast Region, The Gambia
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APA Style
Haruna S. Jallow, Abou Kebbeh, Olliemattou Sagnia, Baba Fofona, Sana M. Sambou, et al. (2017). High Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite Carriage Among Food Handlers in the Gambia. International Journal of Food Science and Biotechnology, 2(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfsb.20170201.11
ACS Style
Haruna S. Jallow; Abou Kebbeh; Olliemattou Sagnia; Baba Fofona; Sana M. Sambou, et al. High Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite Carriage Among Food Handlers in the Gambia. Int. J. Food Sci. Biotechnol. 2017, 2(1), 1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.ijfsb.20170201.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijfsb.20170201.11,
author = {Haruna S. Jallow and Abou Kebbeh and Olliemattou Sagnia and Baba Fofona and Sana M. Sambou and Yaya Camara and Ignatius Baldeh and Bakary Sanneh},
title = {High Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite Carriage Among Food Handlers in the Gambia},
journal = {International Journal of Food Science and Biotechnology},
volume = {2},
number = {1},
pages = {1-5},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijfsb.20170201.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfsb.20170201.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijfsb.20170201.11},
abstract = {Background: Most of the world population is approximately infected with intestinal parasites, the burden of this infection is mainly found in people living in developing countries where hygiene and environmental sanitation are poor. Gambia is not an exception to this phenomenon of poor hygiene and sanitation, therefore is at high risk of intestinal parasitic burden. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of parasitic infections among food handlers who sells food at Lower Basic Schools in the West Coast Region in The Gambia. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study used 540 stool samples stored at 10% formaldehyde collected from different food handlers during a study titled (Prevalence and risk factors of fecal carriage of Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae amongst food handlers in Lower Basic Schools in West Coast Region of The Gambia). Stool samples were examined microscopically using both normal saline and iodine for identification of cysts and eggs, larval of intestinal parasites using direct microscopes. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 16 and Microsoft excel version 2010 software to determine the risk factors. Results: Of the 540 food handlers administered, 536 (99.3%) were females. It was found that 250 (46.3%) were intestinal parasite carriers. Entameoba histolytica/dispar 150 (46%) followed by Giadia lamblia 52 (16%), E. coli 40 (12.3%), E. harmana 20 (6.1%), Strongloides 18 (5.5%), Ascaris lumbricoides 14 (4.3%), Iodamoeba butschlii, 9 (2.8%), Teania spp. 6 (1.8%), Diphyllobotrum latum 3 (0.9%), Hookworm 3 (0.9%), Fasiola hepatica 2 (0.6%), Hymenolepis dimunta 2 (0.6%), Tricguris Trichura 1 (0.3%), Fasiola Buski 1 (0.3%), Hymenolepis nana 1 (0.3%) and V. nana 4 (1.2%) were the parasites identified from the studied. Most of the food handlers were certified for handling food 483 (89.4%) and 492 (91.2%) know the principle of food safety. Among the risk factors, living with domestic animals, lack of training in food handling and hand washing practices with P-value of (0.014), (0.017), and (0.056) respectively and 95% Confidence Interval was associated risk factors of intestinal parasite infections. Conclusions: This study showed high prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers. Training of food handlers on proper methods of food preparation and practice of good personal hygiene should be conducted on regular basis. Since, transmissions of intestinal parasites are by fecal-oral route, food handlers are important sources of infections. Epidemiological surveillance and quarterly screening of food handlers should be done by qualified personnel for isolation of intestinal parasites.},
year = {2017}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - High Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite Carriage Among Food Handlers in the Gambia AU - Haruna S. Jallow AU - Abou Kebbeh AU - Olliemattou Sagnia AU - Baba Fofona AU - Sana M. Sambou AU - Yaya Camara AU - Ignatius Baldeh AU - Bakary Sanneh Y1 - 2017/03/09 PY - 2017 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfsb.20170201.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ijfsb.20170201.11 T2 - International Journal of Food Science and Biotechnology JF - International Journal of Food Science and Biotechnology JO - International Journal of Food Science and Biotechnology SP - 1 EP - 5 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2578-9643 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfsb.20170201.11 AB - Background: Most of the world population is approximately infected with intestinal parasites, the burden of this infection is mainly found in people living in developing countries where hygiene and environmental sanitation are poor. Gambia is not an exception to this phenomenon of poor hygiene and sanitation, therefore is at high risk of intestinal parasitic burden. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of parasitic infections among food handlers who sells food at Lower Basic Schools in the West Coast Region in The Gambia. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study used 540 stool samples stored at 10% formaldehyde collected from different food handlers during a study titled (Prevalence and risk factors of fecal carriage of Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae amongst food handlers in Lower Basic Schools in West Coast Region of The Gambia). Stool samples were examined microscopically using both normal saline and iodine for identification of cysts and eggs, larval of intestinal parasites using direct microscopes. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 16 and Microsoft excel version 2010 software to determine the risk factors. Results: Of the 540 food handlers administered, 536 (99.3%) were females. It was found that 250 (46.3%) were intestinal parasite carriers. Entameoba histolytica/dispar 150 (46%) followed by Giadia lamblia 52 (16%), E. coli 40 (12.3%), E. harmana 20 (6.1%), Strongloides 18 (5.5%), Ascaris lumbricoides 14 (4.3%), Iodamoeba butschlii, 9 (2.8%), Teania spp. 6 (1.8%), Diphyllobotrum latum 3 (0.9%), Hookworm 3 (0.9%), Fasiola hepatica 2 (0.6%), Hymenolepis dimunta 2 (0.6%), Tricguris Trichura 1 (0.3%), Fasiola Buski 1 (0.3%), Hymenolepis nana 1 (0.3%) and V. nana 4 (1.2%) were the parasites identified from the studied. Most of the food handlers were certified for handling food 483 (89.4%) and 492 (91.2%) know the principle of food safety. Among the risk factors, living with domestic animals, lack of training in food handling and hand washing practices with P-value of (0.014), (0.017), and (0.056) respectively and 95% Confidence Interval was associated risk factors of intestinal parasite infections. Conclusions: This study showed high prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers. Training of food handlers on proper methods of food preparation and practice of good personal hygiene should be conducted on regular basis. Since, transmissions of intestinal parasites are by fecal-oral route, food handlers are important sources of infections. Epidemiological surveillance and quarterly screening of food handlers should be done by qualified personnel for isolation of intestinal parasites. VL - 2 IS - 1 ER -
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